This invention relates generally to artificial limbs and more particularly to an inflatable artificial leg of the type described in more detail in my prior Canadian Pat. No. 1,132,754 issued Oct. 5, 1982 and its counterpart U.S. Pat. No. 4,300,245 issued Nov. 17, 1981 for Pneumatic Leg.
In my prior patent there is described an artificial limb comprising a tubular double walled member having an inner and outer wall both made of a flexible, preferably transparent, thermoplastics material and sealed together at each end and along three longitudinal lines so as to form three side-by-side inflatable compartments along the length of the tube. The tubular member tapers from one end to the other and provision is made for insertion of the stump of a limb at the thick end, and for the inner walls of the three compartments to interengage along their length, when inflated, so as to provide a relatively stiff pylon which resists buckling when supporting at least a portion of the patient's weight. Such an artificial leg is particularly useful immediately after amputation surgery or after extended use of a conventional prosthesis. It is light, comfortable and easy to put on. If transparent, examination of the stump after surgery can be made without removing the artificial limb of the present invention. It will be appreciated that the leg of the present invention is particularly useful to control swelling after amputation and it is of particular convenience not to have to remove it for examination of the stump. While the artificial leg of my prior invention has achieved some considerable success as an initial after surgery prosthesis it has not been as entirely successful, as originally intended, as a general use prosthesis, despite its light weight and comfort, as the weight bearing capacity without buckling has proved to be somewhat limited. In the case of a large or heavy patient it has not always proved possible to reliably support all of the patient's weight.